It was strange to attempt to draw attention in an enemy controlled area, or at least a hostile zone. The Ritualist truly didn’t want to consider his fellow humans as enemies, nor did he have any long-term plans to go after Elves. Frankly, if they wouldn’t attack him as soon as they knew who he was, Joe would actually work to set up proper trade routes and exchange of goods and services between them. But as it was, he was careful not to reveal his true intentions, purpose...
2023-10-02 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The duo of the Ritualist and the haughty Archer cautiously approached the outskirts of a small, brightly lit Elven Village. Joe had destroyed enough settlements that he could tell that this was of a higher quality by far. Even if his eyes hadn’t been so discerning, the clearly enchanted walls, vigilant guards, and half-dozen buildings of at least Uncommon quality that were peaking over the walls would’ve given it away.
It was obvious that this Village was well protected, but Joe cou...
2023-09-29 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Standing at the door of his workshop, Joe looked between the normal-size door, comparing it to the enormous sheets of metal that had, until recently, been part of a vault. “Yeah, no way I'm getting these through there without putting them in storage and taking them out inside. Even then, I think they’re going to be a little too long for the ceiling.”
Pondering his options, Joe walked around and decided that the best option was actually going to be to demolish a section of his work...
2023-09-28 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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However flimsy his excuses were to focus on his one true love—magic—the results spoke for themselves. In a mere four days, Joe was able to completely repair the ritual to his satisfaction.
Staring down at the floor, it was clear to see where he’d added his own work. The previously weathered sections had been replaced with simplified, elegant lines of light from his aspect inscriber. The entire room was filled with a low level of ever-escalating energy, as if the world itself was t...
2023-09-27 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Half a dozen people worked on clearing the floor, starting by taking off the top layer of sleet from the slowly-melting ice that had covered nearly every surface. As fast as they could manage, they scraped away enough buildup to find seams in the floor, eventually resolving into a large square. Once the larger tools had been put away, out came buckets, mops, and various other scrubbing implements so that they could push through the millennia of dust and gunk that had accumulated.
When t...
2023-09-26 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Time until mana is available to you once more: 20:32:52.
Skill increase(s):
Mass Resurrection Aura (Apprentice VI).
Artisan Body (Apprentice II)
Battle Meditation (Student VII)
Hidden Sense (Student III)
Magical Synesthesia (Beginner IX)
Congratulations! Through the use of three skills that have a similar effect though a different method of achieving the same goal, you have found that ...
2023-09-25 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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There were several options that Joe could pursue at this moment, but was going to go with what Jaxon had mentioned, which did make the most sense: taking the message as literally as possible, using Essence Cycle to try and see the flows of power and where they had broken. From the very little amount of information that Joe had been able to gather about Vanaheim, it was a wizarding caste system, where those with the most power had the most influence.
If that ended up being accur...
2023-09-22 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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He continued flying on his normal route, leaving himself less than a day’s travel away from where his ritual had indicated Daniella could be found. His gut was churning with anticipation mixed with apprehension. The rescue of his friend was within reach, but he was still unable to shake the odd nervousness that came with the thought of seeing her again.
She’d double-crossed them by working with the Elves, then triple-crossed the Elves by creating an opportunity for Joe and Jaxon to ...
2023-09-21 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Once more speeding through the sky separated only by a thin plane of force and water, Joe stared intently at the landscape below as he came to the point where he had been forced to flee, and his shrine in the hostile settlement remained buried.
From his vantage point, he could see the signs of a large Beast Wave unfolding in the distance. They were nowhere near as orderly and linear of attackers Novusheim dealt with, due to the walls surrounding the upcoming Hamlet on all sides. “I lo...
2023-09-20 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Joe stood before not only the members of the council, but also a large number of assembled residents of Novusheim. He had called for an urgent meeting to address the matter of accepting the recently rescued prisoners of war. Even though they’d obviously been on the Dwarves’ side in the previous world, this was going to be a delicate situation.
“They deserve a chance to get their lives going again without having to cycle through the camps around Town. Haven't they suffered enough u...
2023-09-19 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“You there! Why are you smiling?” An Elf came practically sprinting toward Joe as he walked down the street, his eyes scanning the area carefully for the Town Hall. “Is a lowly one such as you attempting to show dominance? Pah! Here is a penance sheet, you will do these tasks or your life coach will scourge you on my behalf!”
Joe took the sheet with numb hands, blinking in surprise at the sudden shift in the tone of the town around him. No one met his eyes, or ...
2023-09-18 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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*Bang!*
Joe had been standing before the ritual tower, his notes open in front of him as he worked to duplicate his newest version of the spell diagram for the Ritual of Infernal Conflagration. It was a complex spell diagram, designed to unleash a devastating infernal inferno on the packed ranks of enemies that would be swarming below, and with his changes it should work well to create lingering flames that would devastate enormous swathes of the enemy.
But as soon as he ...
2023-09-15 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Several days of traveling in the air and planting his shrines felt nearly anticlimactic after the duo of back-to-back successes. Joe was itching to destroy another village, or find a hidden gem like the strange obelisk from the elites of Vanaheim. Abyss, at this point he’d even take finding a field of snow flowers that he could use to start growing local flora in his greenhouse.
But, instead, Joe was merely traveling over a vast empty world as per usual. He couldn't be too upset about...
2023-09-14 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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After making temporary housing for each of the people that had rejoined what Joe considered the most civilized, polite society on the planet, he set out to make sure they had food and some comfort at the bare minimum. He explained the rules of their stay, and to his surprise got over a hundred notifications that people had accepted a quest he’d given them. After getting past his initial shock, Joe realized that he was considered a leader of this Town, and it only made sense that he’d be a...
2023-09-13 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Luckily he had plenty of experience fighting off monsters. Joe spent the next forty minutes or so finishing off the last of the Penguins and Hoardings, the only monsters that had come out during the current Beast Wave. The defenders had done a spectacular job with holding back the tide of bodies until the very end. He chuckled quietly to himself as he kept a wary eye out for any Elven survivors, “They just weren’t good enough to stop me.”
Eventually, the final monster was...
2023-09-12 11:00:59 +0000 UTC
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Joe never realized how popular his work was becoming until he started using large chunks of his day flying along in a bubble where no one could contact him for any reason. He’d expected to be able to spend a week or two floating along in his magical transportation, creating shrines without any interruptions. Instead, what actually happened was that he’d come back, appearing in front of the shrine only to be met with half a dozen messengers that each demanded his attention for one reason o...
2023-09-11 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Ah, what a perfect day to leave the Town behind and go off in search of adventure, fun, and rare materials.” Joe took a deep breath, leaning back with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the swirling cloud cover of Jotunheim. “Perhaps freeing a captive friend, and filling the population of Novusheim with the residents of a few towns I destroy along the way so we can hit the minimum requirements for upgrade.”
The skies above Novusheim were practically alive with the sounds of D...
2023-09-08 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Joe stared down in disgust at the shirt that he'd once more failed to enchant. He was out of free space on the material, so he threw it to the side along with the other failed, rejected samples. The Ritualist tried not to think too hard about how quickly that pile was growing. At least there was a positive effect from all of the failing that he was doing.
Skill Increase(s).
Enchanted Ritual Circles (Apprentice I)
Enchanting (General) (Apprentice 0)...
2023-09-07 14:04:52 +0000 UTC
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Hello, my awesome friends! Tenacity is in your inbox!
$5+ tier has the ebook
$15+ tier has the audiobook as well
Look for an email from BookFunnel, as it may get sent to spam, and please review on Amazon when you're done!
You can always pop over to Mountaindalepress.store if you'd like anything el...
2023-09-06 15:15:29 +0000 UTC
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Setting up his new Ritual of Binding was practically child's play at this point. The power linking to his Characteristics flowed so smoothly that he wouldn’t have even noticed the intrusion of the magic had it not been for the way his mind cleared up nigh-instantaneously. There was even a tiny bonus thrown in for his efforts to regain his full mental power.
Intelligence +2!
Skill increase: Ritualistic Alchemy (Apprentice II)
Joe wasn't entirely certain if...
2023-09-06 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Well, this is an issue I need to fix,” what felt like several seconds later, Joe managed to say the remainder of his sentence, “as soon as is humanly possible.”
He needed several things in order to unbind and rebind his orb, which meant the Ritualist needed to leave his workshop and go over to the Pyramid of Panacea. Steeling himself for an unpleasant time, Joe threw open the door and walked out into the false sunlight of the area.
Scanning the area, he didn't se...
2023-09-04 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“You’ve been taking meticulous control and efficient resource consumption in the place of going out of your way to strategically Thesaurize.” The session had devolved from working to a full-blown lecture, and Joe was listening raptly to everything Master Stu had to tell him. “The soul-searing flame of Infernal Conflagration engulfs a designated area in scorching, ethereal flames that burn hotter and fiercer than ordinary fire spells. Tell me, why is it that when you ...
2023-09-01 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Shifting somewhat uncomfortably in his chair, Joe idly realized that he’d never considered how dark his workshop was until this moment. Darkvision was a boon from Tatum, and he’d gotten so used to casually and passively using the ability that he’d never really considered what it looked like to other people when they entered his space and saw him working in the dark.
It was likely that Joe would’ve taken a lot longer to realize this fact, but Master Stu had pointed it out near-in...
2023-08-30 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Joe spent the hours of forced relaxation and recuperation sending messages to his guild, his mother, and even penning one out to Daniella in case she managed to get access to her mail in the near future. During that time, he stumbled upon what he thought might’ve been either a strange bug in the game, or a mechanic he didn’t fully understand the purpose of.
As far as he could tell, not nearly as much time had passed on Midgard as had passed for him on Alfheim and especially...
2023-08-28 11:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“Havoc, you madman! Novice spells don't work on Jotunheim!” Joe shouted just before he hit the ground. A small shockwave gave him some room as his ‘Superhero Landing’ title came into effect, the remaining damage being mitigated by his Omnivault skill. Realizing that not all of his skills were locked, only his spells, the Ritualist immediately launched himself toward the wall to get back up top.
As he pushed off, Havoc appeared above him, grabbing Joe's entire face with ...
2023-08-25 11:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“Well, this is rather unfortunate.” Joe grumbled as he looked over all of his various options for seeking out Daniella. After asking around, he hadn’t found anyone willing to put their own expertise on the line to chase the Architect down. The Ritualist had truly thought that he could convince some bored scout or tracker to work with him on this project, but as soon as he mentioned he was going out into the frozen wastes, any flickers of interest in their eyes cooled immediately.
...
2023-08-23 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The creation of the shrine went smoothly, no issues arising as the book-shaped magical structure appeared on the flat, frozen landscape. As the ambient energies of the world settled into their usual chaotic format, Joe realized that the building was actually fairly well-hidden even if it were out in the open.
Coloration wise, it was a slate gray that blended well with the ice and snow. To his magical senses, unless he was extremely close to the shrine itself, he couldn’t locate it ove...
2023-08-21 11:01:01 +0000 UTC
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As they strolled into the mining camp, Joe looked at his team with a smile that chattered even as he maintained it. “I think that was approximately fifty miles, how do we all feel?”
“Cold.” Heartpiercer grumbled at the two of them as she rubbed her arms. “The chilled debuff is way worse outside of the walls. Jotunheim is insane; how are we supposed to get anything done? Building and expanding in the ice and snow would’ve been incredibly difficult and tedious without your hel...
2023-08-18 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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“Why yes, of course I would love to venture out into the bone-white wilderness with you!” Jaxon clapped his hands multiple times, his palms never moving apart. “I would be positively elated to sally forth, finding new and interesting bones to shift into place. Why, imagine if I would’ve been able to take that Cyclops on as a customer instead of having to help you bring him down? The prices I could’ve charged! The information I could’ve gained! The skill levels! Oh, Joe, the skill ...
2023-08-16 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Putting the finishing touches on his plans, Joe decided that he’d incorporate the Special Aspect of Scattering and hoped that would be enough to give the greenhouse some resistance to the chaotic nature of Jotunheim. “It's supposed to give items bonuses in damage against magical defenses, but in theory it should work to repulse the chaotic energies here.”
He didn't have much information on this aspect, as he hadn’t had a chance to use it on anything other than a ritual in the pa...
2023-08-14 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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